Hooke's law says that the opposing force of a spring is directly proportional to the amount by which the spring is stretched. How accurately Hooke's law describe the behavior of real springs? Can springs be used to make accurate scales for weighing objects? Spring into action and find out for yourself with this project.
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The banjo's roots trace all the way over to Africa. The unique sound that a banjo makes depends, in part, on the resonator. The purpose of the resonator is to amplify and project the sound that is made by strumming and plucking the strings. In this music science fair project, you will experiment with a resonator on a banjo and see if you can hear the difference in sound.
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Music_p029

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Time Required

Average (6-10 days)

Prerequisites

You must have access to a computer with a microphone, a spreadsheet program,and an Internet connection. You need to have a basic proficiency with and be able to graph data in the spreadsheet program. If you need help, consult a help guide online or find an adult who is familiar with the spreadsheet program you are using.

Material Availability

Readily available

Cost

Low ($20 - $50)

Safety

Minor injury is possible. Always wear safety goggles and use caution when using tools. Adult supervision is required.

Here's a fun science project for anyone who plays an electric guitar. You'll learn about the physics of vibrating strings, and find out why the tone of your guitar changes when you switch between the different pickups.
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Music_p006

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Time Required

Short (2-5 days)

Prerequisites

To do this project you need to have an electric guitar and guitar amplifier. You'll need to know enough about playing the instrument to produce clear, ringing tones by picking (or plucking) the string.

Many things in nature are periodic: the seasons of the year, the phases of the moon, the vibration of a violin string, and the beating of the human heart. In each of these cases, the events occur in repeated cycles, or periods. In this project you will investigate the periodic motion of a spring, using a mini Slinky@reg;. Basic physics will then allow you to determine the Hooke's Law spring constant. Your analysis will also yield the effective mass of the spring, a factor that is important in…
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In this project, you'll investigate the physics of standing waves on guitar strings. You'll learn about the different modes (i.e., patterns) of vibration that can be produced on a string, and you'll figure out how to produce the various modes by lightly touching the string at just the right place while you pick the string. This technique is called playing harmonics on the string. By the way, we chose a guitar for this project, but you can do the experiments using any stringed instrument, with…
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Music_p009

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Time Required

Very Short (≤ 1 day)

Prerequisites

To do this project, you'll need a guitar (or other stringed instrument). You'll need to know enough about playing the instrument to produce clear harmonics by picking (or plucking) the string while lightly touching it in just the right place.

This is a great project for a musician who is interested in the physics of stringed instruments. If you've ever played an acoustic guitar, you may have noticed that picking a single string can make one or more of the other (unpicked) strings vibrate. When this happens, it's called sympathetic vibration. What intervals lead to the strongest sympathetic vibrations? Find out for yourself with this project.
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Music_p011

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Time Required

Very Short (≤ 1 day)

Prerequisites

To do this project, you will need a properly tuned acoustic guitar (or other acoustic stringed instrument). You'll need to know enough about playing the instrument to produce clear, ringing tones by picking (or plucking) the string while changing its effective length by fretting (or fingering) it.

Walk into any music store and you'll find a dizzying array of string choices for your classical guitar, including rectified nylon, clear nylon, carbon fluoride, bronze wound, phosphor bronze wound, silver-plated copper wire, Polytetra-flouro-ethylene (PTFE), each in a range of tensions from low to high. There is no single best brand or best material. All have their advantages and disadvantages. A set of strings that sounds "sparkling" on one guitar might sound dull on another, primarily because…
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Music_p021

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Time Required

Long (2-4 weeks)

Prerequisites

You will need a guitar, a guitar tuner, and a personal computer with sound processing software, or the ability to run and execute signal-processing programs.

Imagine how cool it would be to build a robot hand that could grasp a ball or pick up a toy. In this
robotics engineering project, you will learn how to use drinking straws, sewing thread, and a little
glue to make a remarkably lifelike and useful robot hand. What will you design your robot hand to do?
Pick up a can? Move around a ping pong ball? It is up to you! With these starting instructions, you can
design any type of hand. You will simulate human finger anatomy as the basis for a…
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Robotics_p001

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- Less Details

Time Required

Short (2-5 days)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

Readily available.
See the Materials and Equipment list for details.

Cost

Low ($20 - $50)

Safety

Adult supervision is suggested for parts of this project. Use caution with sharp knives and glue.

Did you know that your guitar has a secret? Yes, that's right—hidden along each string are special places where you can play harmonics and make your guitar sound like a bell! In this music science fair project, you'll find out where the main harmonics are located on a guitar, and then see how those locations are related to the length of the strings. So get out your guitar—it's time to ring in a science fair project!
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